Mini Coconut Ice Cream Sandwiches
Three reasons why these mini ice cream sandwiches are outstanding: 1) no churn coconut ice cream with swirls of lemon curd (yes, no churn, meaning no ice cream maker needed!) 2) buttery shortbread cookies, 3) toasted coconut garnish.
Plus! Their adorable mini size! Each sandwich has the same circumference as an Oreo cookie, but way fatter because of course I wanted to stuff as much ice cream as I can in there.
Confession: I tried to stuff a double scoop into one sandwich but it got a little too messy and it was ridiculous trying to bite into one – animal-style – so I deconstructed it, dumped it into a bowl, added more ice cream, more toasted coconut, and made myself a little ice cream sundae. By little I mean big.
The good news about this recipe is that it only makes about a dozen ice cream sandwich, but you’ll have a lot of leftover ice cream for your freezer and late night snacking. I’m pretty sure I ended up with a dozen mini ice cream sandwiches, but only my boyfriend will know for sure. He ate most of them so quickly it felt like a blur.
This isn’t my first time making no churn ice cream. I’ve made no churn Tres Leches ice cream and Coconut Blueberry Pie Ice Cream. It’s true that I love coconut.
This also isn’t my first time making mini ice cream sandwiches. The last batch I made were these Bacon Chocolate Shortbread Ice Cream Sandwiches – chocolate shortbread with salty bacon crumbles, sandwiching sweet strawberry ice cream, rolled in a mixture of mini dark chocolate chips and more bacon. Oh yes.
I used my tried and tested recipe for shortbread (last seen in these alfajores), kept them mini, and I may or may not have made a little extra to eat straight from the oven.
So really, this recipe is a combination of some my favorite recipes.
Add the fact that they’re mini and super cute? AND rolled in toasted coconut? My heart. I mean, my waistline. Bye, waistline.
Mini Coconut Ice Cream Sandwiches
No churn coconut ice cream with ribbons of lemon curd, sandwiched between buttery shortbread cookies
Ingredients
Coconut Ice Cream with Lemon Curd
2 cups heavy cream (or 3 cups prepared whipped topping like Cool Whip)
14 oz (1 can) condensed milk
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup lemon curd (I used Trader Joe's brand)
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
Shortbread Cookies
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
Toasted Coconut
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Directions
- Make ice cream. Whip cream into stiff peaks. If using Cool Whip, make sure it's thawed according to package directions.
- In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk and coconut milk. Fold in condensed milk mixture into whipped cream (or Cool Whip).
- Dollop lemon curd into ice cream and swirl throughout mixture using a knife. Add lemon zest and fold until incorporated.
- Pour into a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 6 hours.
- Make toasted coconut. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add coconut flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until flakes are golden brown or done to your liking. Set aside.
- Make shortbread cookies. In a big mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix together until the dough can form into a ball. You can also use a food processor or a stand mixer.
- Shape the dough into a disc, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
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Sprinkle some flour onto your work surface and roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and transfer to cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Combine dough scraps together, gently press into a ball, and roll out again so you can cut out more rounds. I ended up with around 24 cookie rounds (enough to make 12 cookie sandwiches).
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Bake cookies for about 12-14 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden. Let cookies cool for about 15 minutes.
- Assemble the ice cream sandwiches. Place one scoop of coconut ice cream between two shortbread cookies and press together lightly. Roll the sides of each ice cream sandwich in toasted coconut for garnish. You can also pop the cookies back in the freezer before rolling in coconut. Eat immediately!
- If you are making the ice cream sandwiches in advance, wrap each sandwich individually in plastic wrap before storing in the freezer.
The recipe above is for 1 dozen ice cream sandwiches, with plenty of leftover ice cream. The cookie recipe can be doubled easily, but there will still be extra ice cream!
Recipe
What would be your ideal cookie and ice cream combination for an ice cream sandwich?